The Bolt Virtual Terminal is a transaction portal that allows online retailers to charge a credit card on behalf of a customer. Similar to a point-of-sale(POS) terminal, the Bolt Virtual Terminal requires a full set of customer information: first name, last name, card number, expiration date, card verification value number(CVV) email address, and phone number. Generally it is better to place and order directly via your ecommerce platform or order management system, but you can use the virtual terminal if needed. Common reasons for using the virtual terminal are to place a phone, or in-person order, or to add a charge for an altered order, such as adding expedited shipping.
Virtual terminal transactions can be placed, at anytime, for any customer, directly from your Bolt Dashboard using the following steps:
- Login to your Bolt Dashboard
- Select the New Payment button from the top right corner of your dashboard
- Complete all corresponding fields and click the blue Charge button.
Other fields on the form are:
- Order Reference — the shopping cart order number.
- Description (Optional) — an optional description of the order (example: “Jim Sandal, Shoe Size: 10, Color: Black”
- Email for Receipt — is used to send a receipt of the order to the customer. The Order Reference and Description fields are shared with the customer.
Additional details regarding the Bolt Virtual Terminal
There are several important points you should consider when using the Bolt Virtual terminal.
Remember when using the Bolt Virtual Terminal:
- Virtual Terminal transactions do not sync with your e-commerce platform.
- Payment is captured at the time of successful authorization, also called autocapture.
- Auto-approved after successful authorization as they don’t undergo any risk review.
- The Order Reference field only serves as notes and will not sync with your cart platform.
- Virtual terminal transactions are not indemnified for fraud by Bolt. Bolt relies on signals from a customer's checkout to determine fraud. Because virtual terminal transactions are placed by the merchant, Bolt will not have these signals and cannot indemnify the transaction.
- Since Bolt does not indemnify virtual terminal transactions, no Bolt fees will be charged on virtual terminal transactions.